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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Lettuce Man

I am so grateful to be here. I love these people. I love this work. This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life but even the hard moments there are things that are good.

Changes

Well next week we will be finding out if we are or leaving como. Sorella McCann and I both think that she is going to leave because she has been in como for almost 6 months now. I am getting nervous because I have a feeling next transfr is going to be a big change and is going to be very hard. I am excited for change but at the same time I feel like I am finally getting comfortable with things so maybe it is time for a change.

Sunday

It was a great day. We seriously had all of inglaterra (england) and germania in our ward on Sunday. It was fun to have people from the outside world of como,italia! ha We even had a member in the ward translate so the visitors could understand the talks. I am grateful I didnt have to translate because the speakers all spoke so fast and I wouldnt be able to translate that fast. We had one of our investigators at church for all three hours! It was so great to see her walk in during società di soccorso (relief society). Sundays are probably easily my favorite day because there are always little sunday miracles. Also a meno attiva was able to come to church because shefinished work early. We wee so happy to see her at church as well. Its the little things that bring us joy here!

Why I love my mission

During our last district meeting for the transfer our district leader made us write why we love our mission. There are many reasons why I love my mission. I love the people. I love when you see someone feel the spirit for the first time, come to church, pray for the first time, and bare their testimony for the first time. I love seeing good people change and become better. I love seeing people change and when you see that their countance is changing. I even love the hard moments when you are so tired and are trying to roll our of bed in the morning. I love that I am creating a closer realtionship with my savior. I love that I get to study the scriptures in the morning and that my testimony of the gospel increases each and everyday I am here. Most of all I love my mission because I am becoming the person I have always wanted to be. I love my mission here in each day more and more.

Lettuce Man

So this week as we were walking to the bus stop I decided to say hello to everyone I passes with a smile on my face. So I pass an old man(with a bike and two boxes containing lots of lettuce) and say to him "Buon Giorno!"..then he says somethig back to me in english. Then he proceeded to talk to us and gave us two bags of lettuce to be nice. Before he left Sorella McCann and I he blew us a kiss and stroked both of our cheeks. It was so cute and funny. ha Talking about it now just puts a smile on my face. Sometimes I wish I could record all of the funny little things that happen to us on the mission. Sadly we had to throw away the lettuce because we had an appointment and the lettuce looked a little bit juicy. ha it was the thought that counts I guess! ha

Giu Bus or Su Train

Well in Como we have this constant joke if we are on the giu bus or the su train. Giu in italian means up and su in italian means down. So if one of us is having a hard day we ask one another are you on the giu bus or are you on the su train. ha We always tell one another that we need to get back of the su train. My favorite thing to do is when you notice the other sorelle or anziani down to say "I am conducting the su train. so get on this train and join along"..or something of the sort.

Sad day

We had a lesson the other day with a woman that was an ex investigator about 4 years ago. So we decided to have a lesson with her again. Well I started by talking about how God is our loving Heavenly Father and that he love us. I asked her "How doe that make you feel to know that you are a daughter of God?" She basically just shut me down and said I dont believe that and I dont believe in God. We asked her later in the lesson if she loved her family and she told us yes. So we thought yes we are getting somewhere. So we asked her "would you want to live with your family forever if you could?" and she told us no. I have never felt so sad in a lesson before. I literally had to fight back the tears because it made me so sad to she how sad this woman is.

This moment made me realize why the gospel is important to me. I love my family. They are everything to me. There would be no purpose to this life if we had no plan of what where we were to go after we die. I am grateful for the plan of salvation. I know God lives. I know we are all his children. Although this lesson brought us giu at the end she said a prayer to God and we have an appointment with her next week. This gives me hope and I know that although she doesnt agree with our beliefs, I know that she felt the spirit. In the end the spirit will testify of truth.

These moments help me to appreciate the knowledge that I do have. I hope that I can share this joy to people who need this happiness in their life like that woman. There are so many sad people in the world who literally have everything (home, family, clothes, worldly things and etc) but they arent happy with their life. I can say that even my hard days on the mission I am genuinely happy. There are hard days but I am happy with my life, and who I am becoming.

I just want to end my letter this week with a scripture in the book of mormon in Helaman 5:9-12. Read them. There is a promise that is so beautiful in verse 12. If we build our foundation (life) on Christ we cannot fall. I know this is true. I love these verses and I can promise that they are true. I feel so much more joy doing the Lord's work. It's crazy to think that I would have finished my first year of college at home but I am soo graeful to be serving this mission. In October it will be a year since the age change announcement for young men and young women. I am so grateful for that revelation by President Thomas S. Monson because I dont think I would be here without the age change. I love you all! Thank you for your love. There are some days when I think of you all for a second and I can genuinely feel your love. I am grateful for this gospel. I hope you can read Helaman chapter 5 it is an amazing chapter in the book of mormon.

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

-Matthew 11:28-30

"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come."